CoinMarketCap API

CoinMarketCap API is a widely-used cryptocurrency data API owned by Binance. It provides market data for over 10,000 cryptocurrencies including prices, rankings, market cap, and exchange information. CMC is the most visited crypto data website globally. As the primary price discovery source for institutional investors and retail traders, CoinMarketCap offers authoritative rankings and valuations that influence market sentiment and trading decisions across the crypto ecosystem.

• Latest listings: real-time market data for all tracked cryptocurrencies with live price tickers updated every few seconds
• Historical data: daily/hourly OHLCV candles and market cap snapshots dating back to 2013 for major cryptocurrencies
• Exchange data: spot and derivatives exchange rankings, trading pair information, and volume metrics
• Global metrics: total market cap, BTC dominance percentage, DeFi market cap, stablecoin market cap, and NFT market data
• Metadata: coin logos, project descriptions, official tags, social media links, and blockchain addresses
• Price conversion: convert between any supported cryptocurrencies and 40+ fiat currencies with historical rates
• CMC ID mapping: stable, permanent identifiers for all assets that don't change with rebrands or symbol conflicts
• Market cap ranking: official ranking system used across the crypto industry for asset classification
• Liquidity metrics: circulating supply, max supply, fully-diluted valuation (FDV) for token projects

10,000+ cryptocurrencies spanning major coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum), altcoins, Layer 2 solutions, meme tokens, and emerging blockchain projects. 600+ centralized and decentralized exchanges tracked for volume and trading activity. 40+ fiat currencies supported for price normalization. Historical data available from 2013 for major coins with expanding historical coverage for newer assets.

Day Traders rely on CMC price feeds and volume rankings to identify trending assets and validate pump signals across exchanges. Swing Traders use historical OHLCV data and market cap rankings to screen for breakout candidates and correlation patterns. Quantitative Traders integrate CMC data feeds into algorithmic systems for automated market screening and signal generation. Portfolio Managers track global metrics like BTC dominance and DeFi market cap to rebalance across asset classes. Crypto Researchers leverage metadata and historical snapshots to analyze market cycles and competitive positioning within cryptocurrency sectors.

Momentum Screening: Query the latest listings endpoint to identify cryptocurrencies with highest price gains over 1h/24h/7d, filtering for minimum volume thresholds. Use this to build watchlists for day trading momentum plays across volatile altcoins.

Market Cap Rank Validation: Cross-reference a cryptocurrency's CMC rank against your backtesting assumptions. Top 100, top 500, and top 1000 rankings typically correlate with liquidity and exchange listing availability—critical for verifying historical backtest data isn't using coins that weren't liquid during your test period.

Sector Rotation Analysis: Monitor DeFi market cap, layer 2 protocol market caps, and gaming token market cap trends to identify which cryptocurrency sectors are leading or lagging. Build trading strategies that rotate between sector leaders based on relative strength.

Dominance-Based Macro Signals: Track Bitcoin dominance trends to validate altseason hypotheses. When BTC dominance drops below key levels (e.g., 42%), altcoins tend to outperform. Use this as a macro filter to activate or pause your altcoin trading strategies.

Supply-Adjusted Valuation: Use circulating supply and fully-diluted valuation (FDV) data to identify overvalued tokens relative to historical trading ranges. Trade mean-reversion strategies when FDV reaches extremes compared to market cap.

Exchange Listing Screening: Query exchange data to identify which trading pairs exist on which platforms. This prevents backtesting strategies on coins that had insufficient liquidity or weren't yet listed during your historical test window.

CoinMarketCap API complements StratBase.ai by providing external data validation for your backtests. After designing a trading strategy in StratBase.ai, use CMC to verify that the cryptocurrencies in your backtest were actually tradeable and had sufficient market cap during your historical test period. This prevents the common pitfall of overfitting to coins that were delisted or didn't exist.

Query CMC's historical market cap and volume data to confirm your backtested asset's liquidity profile matched your strategy's position sizing assumptions. If your strategy assumes 5% daily position exits but a coin had only 2% daily volume during your test period, CMC data will reveal this discrepancy before you deploy real capital.

Use CMC's sector-level metrics (DeFi, Layer 2, staking tokens) as external signals to gate your StratBase.ai backtest results. If your altcoin strategy backtests profitably only during periods when DeFi market cap was expanding, CMC's historical metrics let you segment backtest performance by market regime—revealing whether your edge depends on bull market conditions.

For multi-asset strategies built in StratBase.ai, CMC's price conversion endpoints ensure consistent USD-denominated returns across portfolios containing multiple cryptocurrencies. This standardizes P&L calculations and risk metrics across your backtested positions.

| Feature | Details | |---------|---------| | Base URL | https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com | | Auth | API key via X-CMC_PRO_API_KEY header | | Rate Limit | Varies by plan (333/day free, up to 2M/mo on enterprise) | | Format | JSON | | Endpoints | 25+ endpoint categories including listings, quotes, market data, and exchange information | | Latency | <200ms typical response time for standard endpoints |

• Basic (Free): 333 calls/day, latest market data only, no historical access
• Hobbyist: $29/month — 10,000 calls/day, full historical OHLCV access, metadata
• Startup: $79/month — 40,000 calls/day, exchange data, advanced market cap snapshots
• Standard: $299/month — 120,000 calls/day, complete historical archives, priority support
• Professional/Enterprise: Custom pricing for 500K+ monthly calls and dedicated infrastructure

1. Sign up at coinmarketcap.com/api using email or social account
2. Generate your API key from the account dashboard (free tier immediately available)
3. Query /v1/cryptocurrency/listings/latest for real-time top 5000 cryptocurrencies sorted by market cap
4. Use /v2/cryptocurrency/quotes/latest for specific coin prices across multiple currencies
5. Access /v1/cryptocurrency/ohlcv/historical with your paid plan to retrieve historical candles for backtesting
6. Pull /v1/global-metrics/quotes/latest for total crypto market cap, BTC dominance, and sector metrics

• API Documentation
• API Pricing & Plans
• Status Page & Uptime Monitoring
• API Changelog & Updates